The Battle for Supremacy
The Battle has been a never ending struggle. Through many years I have been dealing with problems that have constantly set me back, things that have threw me a curveball, and made me go out of my way to attack my dream goal of becoming a bodybuilder.
The whole story started in Slippery Rock Pennsylvania on a cold Friday night.
"Pro Power Right 235 Veer Option Stack on Two" That was the call, 4th quarter, 12:35 left on the clock, and the game prior to the first round of the playoffs. The scoreboard read 14-0 on a mud-pit of a field in Slippery Rock Pennsylvania. The quarterback took the snap, I took my first step to block a defensive tackle, and he ended up cutting me at my knees. My foot got stuck, my knee turned 180 degrees, I fell on the ground screaming in pain, and right then and there I knew it was over. I felt the MCL just get torn right out of place and laid on the ground knowing if I tried to move it would only make things worse.
This started the journey to who I was to who I wanted to become right then and there. I sat on the bus on the way home pondering where I would go from here, Football would never be the same, I would never lace up the pads again for a single play at the sacrifice of having a bad knee, and a nagging back to boot. Rehab started, and I started to do cardiovascular exercise on machines for the first time in my life, for some odd reason I started to have a relationship with hopping on a step mill and bike while I felt good extension in my knee and I could see my body was slowly leaving my 240lb frame and the gut slowly disappearing. Then my 18th birthday came around, and earlier that month I watched "The Arnold Classic" for the first time in my life. I did not know much about bodybuilding, I just had a passion for lifting heavy for football and figured lets check this out and see what it is all about.
After falling in love with the physiques individuals brought to the stage, researching about dieting, and watching hundreds of youtube videos of the pro's training I knew this was something I would desire in the future. I slowly began eating smaller meals throughout the day, eliminating soda from my diet, passing on potato chips, and stopped eating snicker bars and poptarts as the sole source of my food intake throughout the day at school to fruit, veggies, lean cuts of protein, and very little calories that ended up a recipe for disaster over the span of two years. I went from 240lbs at the peak of my football career, to a anorexic 135lbs as a freshman in college. It was not something I was proud of, but on the inside I had no idea what I was doing to myself. I just kept running myself into the ground, lifting everyday, and thinking I was pursuing the body of my dreams when in reality I was destroying everything on the inside. My parents wanted to throw me out of school and place me in a hospital until I looked like a human, I had a female bodybuilder calling me on a nightly basis to encourage me to start eating more and make wiser decisions, and i had a girlfriend who was scared my body may shutdown on me at any given minute.
Sophomore year rolled around, I met some incredible individuals in Muscular Development's Seth Feorce (my soon to be training partner) and two other individuals named Mike and Devin who slowly turned me around. My parents continued to bang at me and feed me as much as possible whenever I came home, but it was really these three guys who shed the light and changed my ways forever. I started to stop doing cardio everyday, implementing "off days" and taking a more relaxed approach towards training instead of thinking I had to be in there busting my ass everyday to see results which was not happening. I started adding back on weight, my lifts started to skyrocket, and my knee was feeling better than ever. Life was slowly turning around.
t the end of my sophomore year I joined Team Scivation, and had an experience of a lifetime with Derek Charlebois as my trainer. I put on 30lbs in 25 weeks and added mass to my body that I never dreamed of. Granted I put on a load of fat in the process, but I established a base to work with and with it I could change my body, and I looked like a human. Soon after working with Derek I hired Tommy Jeffers to cut off the fat after seeing others have such success with his methods, so I was intrigued to see what he could bring to the table. 5 Months later and after a grueling cut I got myself down to 153lbs. I was amazed at how lean I was, but at the same time I retained almost all of my strength throughout the process. I was put on a pretty tight diet with cardio and training that consumed my life towards the end, and my body started to give out as it was getting to become overwhelming. Tommy's experience was an experience I will always remember. I know I have someone who I can always turn when it comes to diet, nutrition, and training. I went on my own and had a very successful bulk. Adding 13lbs in 7 months and putting on some more bulk onto my frame, and adding some muscle in the process.
Now I currently sit here, looking at the future, and with that the stage is calling my name. I have made many road trips, met some incredible individuals on the bodybuilding.com forums, and have had life long experiences with some people that I will treasure forever. My attitude, motivation, and determination have forever been changed over the last year."The Battle for Supremacy" reflects that if I ever want to get anywhere the only person who can make that change is myself. People do not understand that bodybuilding is a "Mental" sport than a physical sport. Sure you have to lift heavy, get big, and diet smart. But who is going to make yourself seek pain, grind out those extra reps, or finish those last few intervals to get the body of your dreams? It all comes down to how bad you want it, how much you can focus yourself to finish the task at hand, and raise your intensity to make yourself a better person everyday inside and outside of the weight room. If I cannot do it now, I will not be able to prepare my body for a stage presence in the future.
I will tell you this. I have this year to prime my body for the stage, add some LBM and start my contest prep. I will be on stage in late 2010 or in 2011. I will do anything that it takes to get up there and pose my ass off and come away with hardware. Genetics are against me, my back is a huge weakness that will be brought up, and I will walk away knowing I gave everything my all. Every day I look in the mirror I want to be sure that I improved on the past, and have climbed another notch on the ladder towards achieving a lifelong goal. 2010 is here, and there is no time to fool around. Time is a wasting.
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